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1 [1]Skip to content 2 [2] 3 4 [3]Colossal 5 6 The best of art, craft, and visual culture since 2010. 7 8 • [4]Log in 9 • [5]Shop 10 • [6]Search & Explore 11 12 … Menu 13 14 • [9]Art 15 • [10]Craft 16 • [11]Design 17 • [12]Photography 18 • [13]Animation 19 • [14]Books 20 • [15]Climate 21 • [16]Film 22 • [17]History 23 • [18]Conversations 24 • [19]Illustration 25 • [20]Music 26 • [21]Nature 27 • [22]Opportunities 28 • [23]Science 29 • [24]Social Issues 30 31 Close 32 33 • [26]Search & Explore 34 • [27]Subscribe 35 • [28]Events 36 • [29]Conversations 37 • [30]Art Glossary 38 • [31]Shop 39 40 About Colossal 41 42 • [32]About 43 • [33]Contact 44 45 [nav-panel-bg-mobile] [nav-panel-bg] 46 47 Become a Colossal Member 48 49 • [34]Join Us 50 • or 51 • [35]Log in 52 53 [36][surprise-sta] 54 55 • [37]Privacy Policy 56 • [38]Terms of Service 57 58 a small sketchbook with elaborately designed travel notes and drawingsAll 59 images courtesy of José Naranja, shared with permission 60 61 Through a Love of Note-Taking, José Naranja Documents His Travels One Tiny 62 Detail at a Time 63 64 April 23, 2025 65 [39]Design[40]Illustration 66 [41]Kate Mothes 67 68 • [42] Share 69 • [43] Pin 70 • [44] Email 71 72 Bookmark 73 74 From postage stamps to jetliner specifications to items he packed for the 75 journey, [46]José Naranja’s sketchbooks ([47]previously) capture minute details 76 of numerous international trips. “I’m lost in the intricate details, as 77 always,” he tells Colossal. Everything from currency to noodle varieties to 78 film references make their way into small books brimming with travel ephemera 79 and observations. 80 81 Naranja is currently working on a thicker book than he has in the past, which 82 is taking more time to fill, along with an illustrated card project called 83 2050, which merges science, tech events, and his signature “beauty of 84 note-taking” aesthetic. The artist has also reproduced some of his sketches in 85 The Nautilus Manuscript, a small batch-printed, hand-bound edition available 86 for sale in [48]his shop. Follow updates on the artist’s [49]Instagram. 87 88 a small sketchbook with elaborately designed travel notes and drawings, on a 89 table with artmaking tools like pens and ink a small sketchbook with 90 elaborately designed travel notes and drawings, on a table with artmaking tools 91 like pens and ink a small sketchbook with elaborately designed travel notes and 92 drawings a small sketchbook with elaborately designed travel notes and 93 drawings, on a table with artmaking tools like a stencil and stamps a small 94 sketchbook with elaborately designed travel notes and drawings, on a table with 95 artmaking tools like pens and ink a series of small sketchbooks with 96 elaborately designed travel notes and drawings a small sketchbook with 97 elaborately designed travel notes and drawings a small sketchbook with 98 elaborately designed travel notes and drawings, on a table with artmaking tools 99 like pens and ink a small sketchbook with elaborately designed travel notes and 100 drawings, on a table with artmaking tools like pens and ink the tops of a 101 series of closed, small sketchbooks showing how full they have become, with 102 color and details on the edges 103 104 Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a [50]Colossal Member 105 now, and support independent arts publishing. 106 107 • Hide advertising 108 • Save your favorite articles 109 • Get 15% off in the [51]Colossal Shop 110 • Receive members-only newsletter 111 • Give 1% for art supplies in K-12 classrooms 112 113 Join us today! 114 115 [52]$7/month 116 [53]$75/year 117 [54]Explore membership options● 118 [55]Previous article 119 [56]Next article 120 121 Related tags 122 123 [57]drawing[58]José Naranja[59]notebooks[60]sketchbooks[61]travel 124 125 Related articles 126 127 • [62][naranja-3] 128 [63]Maps, Everyday Ephemera, and Watercolor Drawings Record José Naranja's 129 Travels with Fantastic Detail 130 • [64][naranja-5] 131 [65]Stamps, Scientific Charts, and Hand-Drawn Maps Occupy Every Inch of 132 Travel Notebooks by José Naranja 133 • [66][ocean] 134 [67]A New Book Plunges into the Vast Diversity of the World's Oceans Across 135 3,000 Years 136 • [68][sketch-6] 137 [69]Drawn the Road Again: Inside the Travel Sketchbooks of Chandler O'Leary 138 as She Explores the U.S. 139 • [70][kobayashi-3] 140 [71]Japanese Chef Has Filled Notebooks with Delectable Illustrations of All 141 of His Meals for 32 Years 142 • [72][DrawingMachine_03] 143 [73]Crank Out Infinite Geometric Designs With The Wooden Cycloid Drawing 144 Machine 145 146 Trending 147 148 • [74]a black-and-white photo by Dawoud Bey of a Black man standing on a 149 street in New York next to two women in large coats and hats, who are 150 turned away from the camera [75]Explore Trailblazing Street Photography in 151 ‘Faces in the Crowd’ at MFA Boston 152 • [76]the open atrium at Calder Gardens with two large-scale sculptures in 153 red and black and a large hanging mobile [77]Calder Gardens, a Light-Filled 154 Museum and Prairie, Houses the Sculptor’s Work in Philadelphia 155 • [78]a white arm with a tattoo by Nano Ponto of a vibrant gradient emerging 156 from a black and white eye [79]Innumerable Dots Form Bright, Bold Gradients 157 in Nano Ponto’s Entirely Handpoked Tattoos 158 • [80]a colorfully knotted rope work by Jacqueline Surdell hanging from a bar 159 [81]Monumental Tapestries by Jacqueline Surdell Invoke Forests as Portals 160 to the Divine 161 • [82]a full-room installation of red fiber and paper pages by Chiharu Shiota 162 [83]World War II Journal Entries Float in a Web of Blood-Red Yarn in 163 Chiharu Shiota’s ‘Diary’ 164 • [84]a beaded artwork by Dyani White Hawk inspired by Native American 165 patterns in bright colors [85]Lakota and Western Art History Converge in 166 Dyani White Hawk’s Vibrant Works 167 • [86]"Noche obsidiana." symmetrical natural pigment painting by Omar 168 Mendoza, featuring cosmic symbols and visual motifs evoking Mesoamerican 169 ancestry [87]Omar Mendoza’s Natural Pigment Paintings Radiate the Power of 170 Ancestral Knowledge 171 • [88]a photo of a large, vaulted room inside an abandoned house by Bryan 172 Sansivero [89]Bryan Sansivero Documents Otherworldly, Forgotten Houses in 173 ‘America the Abandoned’ 174 175 Advertisement 176 177 Art in your inbox. 178 179 Join more than 200,000 subscribers and get the best of art and visual culture 180 from Colossal. 181 182 Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. 183 Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. 184 Address Email [90][ ] 185 Email Address *[91][ ] 186 SubscribeLoading 187 188 Become a Colossal Member 189 190 • [98]Join Us 191 • or 192 • [99]Log in 193 194 • [100]Advertise 195 • [101]About 196 • [102]Subscribe 197 • [103]Contact 198 • [104]Search & Explore 199 • [105]Membership 200 • [106]Shop 201 • [107]RSS Feed 202 203 Copyright © 2025 Colossal. 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